Sony is expanding its range of products based on the HDV high-definition tape format with its first shoulder-mounted HDV camcorder.

The HVR-HD1000U is aimed at the low-end professional market and will be available in the US in December, Sony said on Thursday. It has a 10X optical zoom lens and built-in down-convertor so that video can be shot in high-definition but exported to an editing system in standard definition format.

Other features include a slow-motion function in which the camera shoots 3 seconds of video at four times the normal frame rate, stores it in a buffer memory and then records it to tape at normal speed. The result is that the 3 second shot is recorded as a 12-second slow motion clip.

There's also a night-shot mode that shoots in low-light conditions with the aid of an infrared light, and the ability to snap 4-megapixel quality still images.

The camera will cost US$1,900. Launch plans for Europe other markets are still undecided, Sony in Tokyo said.